09-02-2004, 04:33 AM
I think its worth pointing out that the "Church of the East" has both the oldest surving Liturgy on record, and also the oldest one in continuous use.
And that this point actually has some bearing even on the issue of Aramaic Primacy. Because well if you have the oldest liturgy, its in Aramaic, and you are a Christian church. Part of the heritage that comes from the Liturgical tradition is having scriptures to go with them, as far as being read in Lectionary readings etc.
Anyway the Liturgy of the Holy Apostles, Mari and Addai, is dated around AD 200. Which beats most other liturgies by I think 150-400 years depending on which one your talking about. And there are some aspects of the liturgy, which are very remniscent of material from the Didache, AD 100. So anyway I think, this liturgy is an important piece of evidence that documents the ancient literary heritage that would also serve as the basis for evaluating some of the antiquity claims that would be made in reference to the Peshitta.
And that this point actually has some bearing even on the issue of Aramaic Primacy. Because well if you have the oldest liturgy, its in Aramaic, and you are a Christian church. Part of the heritage that comes from the Liturgical tradition is having scriptures to go with them, as far as being read in Lectionary readings etc.
Anyway the Liturgy of the Holy Apostles, Mari and Addai, is dated around AD 200. Which beats most other liturgies by I think 150-400 years depending on which one your talking about. And there are some aspects of the liturgy, which are very remniscent of material from the Didache, AD 100. So anyway I think, this liturgy is an important piece of evidence that documents the ancient literary heritage that would also serve as the basis for evaluating some of the antiquity claims that would be made in reference to the Peshitta.